St. Petersburg Prosecutors Probe Deadly Street Brawl

February 17, 2007 -- Prosecutors in the Russian city of St. Petersburg have opened a criminal investigation after one Uzbek national died and another was critically injured in an overnight street fight in the suburb of Pushkin, RFE/RL's Russian Service reported.

According to initial reports, the Uzbeks were stabbed repeatedly after becoming involved in a brawl with up to 20 drunken youths.

No motive has been established.

Police have detained several suspects.

(with material from Interfax)

The Post-Soviet Environment

The skull of a male saiga antelope in Kalmykia. Saiga numbers have collapsed disastrously over the last decade. (shpilenok.com)

THE FRAGILE PLANET: Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, old environmental disasters have come to light and new ones have emerged. War, poverty, and weak central-government control have led to serious environmental problems from Eastern Europe to the Russian Far East. RFE/RL has provided extensive coverage of these important issues and of efforts to cope with them.